Fishy Plate

Meg sent us the plate that we so hurriedly decorated at Terra Mia when we were in San Francisco. It turned out OK for the amount of time we put into it and it could have turned out great if we had had enough time and the right tools available. As can be seen from the before and after images, firing definitely changes the colors of the glaze. It also introduced a hairline crack (or maybe it was the shipping, I don't know) so we'll see how long our souvenir will survive.

Here is what I would do differently if I had the time (and latex paint):

• Let the base paint dry before doing any scratching. Our base paint (on the bottom) was a light blue, but the bubbles we scratched out went all the way to the white ceramic.
• Don't paint a huge area that you're going to mask off, only paint just a little beyond what you're going to mask. The colors we used for our three fish and sea star are coming through the blue around them. We didn't have much of a choice in this, since we were using contact paper for masking, but still...
• Apply multiple layers of paint, and let it dry between applications. Our colors could have been more vibrant and it would have prevented the contrasting colors--and the white ceramic--from seeping through the blue.
• When you sponge a marbled pattern, make sure there is enough contrast between the two colors. Our dark teal and blue look almost alike.

Would I do this again? You betcha! The process is fun and with enough time and effort you can create some cool stuff. Ceramics party anyone?